Lindsey and I began with a check-in about her recent parent-teacher conferences. She shared both “glows” and “grows” from those conversations and reflected positively on how they went.
We then reviewed the DREAM acronym for goal setting and began discussing potential goals that have already been on her mind. Lindsey brought up one student who has been particularly challenging. He has a diagnosis of dyslexia and reads very fluently; however, his comprehension is significantly limited. His writing and spelling are also heavily impacted. Lindsey wonders whether he is truly decoding words or instead memorizing them visually, as he appears to read fluently without demonstrating understanding.
She also discussed another student who is currently in the process of being evaluated. The school psychologist has asked Lindsey to reassess a previously taught skill, as the student is not retaining prior learning. He is forgetting vowel sounds and often substitutes his own words into sentences. These substitutions typically do not make sense, indicating that he is not reading for meaning and is not self-correcting. Lindsey suspects that he relies heavily on beginning sounds and then guesses the remainder of the word.
As phrases like “seems to be” and “I feel like” surfaced in our conversation, we discussed ways Lindsey might gather clearer evidence to better understand the patterns she is noticing. This led us to consider assessment tools such as running records, which could help her more precisely “see” the miscues the student is making and determine whether there are consistent patterns. Lindsey was receptive to this idea and is interested in trying it.
We also discussed using passages with strong alliteration to encourage the student to slow down and attend more carefully to the full word rather than relying on initial sounds.
Lindsey expressed eagerness to dig more deeply into what this student is actually doing before finalizing a goal. We plan to meet next week to review the data she collects and determine next steps for goal setting.